Dead Men
by OieCuite
Summary: In Bayville, mutants have a safe haven to learn how to harness their powers. But in Australia, it's every mutant for himself. Mari and Will are on the streets with powers they can't handle and a nation that wants them dead.Will they survive?
1. Adjustments

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, however I do own all characters mentioned in this chapter. **

**Authors Note: First this fic will involve Canon Characters, and they will play a very important part in the overall story. But for this chapter and for a few after it, they won't show up. Until said otherwise the characters are in Australia, and know only what they do about mutants from the news.**

**Secondly, none of the Original Characters, at least not to my knowledge, will have any romantic relationships with any of the actual X-men. Relationships yes, Romantic ones, no.**

**I've tried to keep the characters as flawed as possible and if they hint towards to being unrealistic and mary-sueish please do not hestiate to tell me. I love all feedback, good or bad, I just ask that if you are going to flame me you can back up what you say.**

**After this I won't have the disclaimer or authors notes above chapters unless it's issuing a warning or something else that needs to be adressed. **  
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Now the long and boring Authors Note and Over, please enjoy!**

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Ever wonder what it would be like to be able to make all of your wildest dreams come true in an instant? Ever one wonder how great it would feel to be able to make everyone else the happiest they've ever been, or get rid of memories that scar people for life?

You'd think that people would love you for it, people would thank you, and that they would be forever in your debt for taking away the memories that haunt them, for giving them a life that they always wanted.

I thought so. But people always do the exact opposite of what you think. I could rid them of their nightmares forever; make them feel happiness in their darkest hour! I was salvation for tortured minds!

They wanted me dead. They wanted me rotting; they wanted me to burn, to die slowly, horribly. But not until they'd figured out exactly why I'd become a monster. A monster! Of course, I have the greatest gift to give them and they want to cure me of my _disease. _

Humans are not worth it anymore. I would have helped them once; I wanted to help them once. But now they will learn the error of their ways. They thought my gift was a threat before, before when I was helping, before when I was naïve. Well, wait until they see what a 'threat' my little gift can be.

Wait until they see.

o  
o  
o

"Hurry up Mari, you'll be late for school! If you miss that bus I will not be driving you!"

The fifteen year old teenager groaned and snuggled deeper into her covers, protesting weakly.

"Ok, so if I miss the bus and you won't drive me I guess I'll just have to stay home then?"

She wasn't sure if her mother had heard her and for a brief second thought she just might get away with it this time. A snort on the other side of the door answered her question. "Fine" She threw her small frame from the bed and launched herself at the wardrobe.

Her mother impatiently tapped her foot on the other side of the door.

"Marishka Anastasia Thompson if you are not dressed and ready by the time I open this door you will be grounded until you can drive!"

The door swung open to reveal Mari, dressed in her school uniform, black hair swept out of her face and held back in a high ponytail and a cheeky grin on her face.

Her mother tried to hold back her smile and covered it with a frown instead. "You get your little bottom to that bus stop right now young lady, your sister's already left"

Mari nodded, reached for her bag and smiled at her mother before bolting out the door.

She caught up with her younger sister in no time, the sibling having a habit for walking slower than a dead snail.

"Wait up" She shouted, panting from running down the hill. Her sister waited and opened her mouth to speak as soon as she was close enough.

"Did you hear about the news this morning?" She said excitedly.

Mari rolled her eyes, wondering if she could perhaps get her sister to be quiet if she offered her a muffin.

Without waiting for an answer she kept going, her eyes dancing with excitement.

"You know all those reports about mutants in the states? Well guess what! Don't guess, just listen, they found some here! One they caught on film, and she had green hair…"

Mari cut her sister off "So what, lots of people have green hair these days, its called punk"

Her sister continued not paying attention "And She was making plants from her fingers, and that's not all! There's this girl who can walk through walls! And another one who can…" she kept going on even as they boarded the bus, only closing her mouth when they were nearing the school.

"So what do you think about the mutants?" Her sister threw one final question before ducking her blonde head out the door.

Before Mari could answer her bubbly sister was gone already. Sighing she thanked her lucky stars she had only one sibling to deal with.

She walked slowly into the school grounds, taking her time and hoping to be late for class. As she walked she started thinking, about the up coming school formal, and who she was going to take.

She decided to check for possible candidates on her walk to class, discreetly inspecting all the male people she knew, and some that she didn't.

She immediately decided on No for four people, shaking her head as a particularly rude person brushed past her and reminded her self to take some pain killers for her oncoming headache.

She raised her head, fingers pressed to her temples when she saw him. The most perfect guy ever. She nearly dropped her bag. She definitely dropped her jaw, and at that moment, his eyes caught hers and she smiled. He returned it before walking off in the other direction.

She felt giddy and started to envision what it would be like to go to the dance with him. A perfect white wonderland, streamers, confetti, the works, filled her mind, of course, it was only the school gym, but it looked perfect in her mind.

He was there and she was wearing the most gorgeous dress, and he was dancing with her, waltzing slowly, almost as if there was no one else in the room.

She sighed and turned her attention to getting to class when she suddenly realized something.

Everyone around her was dancing, and the boy was standing in front of her, his hands on her waist and a dreamy smile on his face.

She screamed, pulling away from him and staring at everyone around her. They were acting like zombies and she wondered if this was a strange dream.

She screamed louder and grabbed her head, her headache was suddenly much worse. It was so bad she fell to her knees in pain, when everyone stopped what they were doing and started shaking their own heads.

The boy who was now only a few feet away from her walked up to her.

"Are you alright?" She stared up, obviously frightened, and then took the hand he offered her.

"Sorry, I know this sounds crazy, but …was I dancing…. With you…at all?" he trailed off.

She stuttered a short reply "N, n… no. Not t-that I know of. Um, I'm…ah, late for. Class…bye" She darted away from him, trying to ignore the stares from everyone around her.

They were all questioning each other, all of them remembering a dance, as if it were a dream.

o  
o  
o

Mari slammed the front door, racing into her own bedroom so glad to be home after the day she'd had. She'd been unable to explain why her day dream had been projected to everyone else.

It scared her, a lot. She didn't say anything to her friends, although they had been worried about her.

She put it all down to her headaches and a wild imagination, but the excuse was beginning to wear thin.

She was looking forward to a good nights sleep, one free of the strange happenings at school and the looming pile of homework on her desk.

"Mum? Dad? Anita?" Mari was lost. Her room was gone; she couldn't find it anywhere, in its place was as study filled with books and a computer, a clean floor and not a wardrobe in sight.

She wandered around some more, wondering what had happened. Hearing a car pulling up she realized that it must be her parents.

She raced to the door wrenching it open and smiling with relief when her parents and sister walked into the house.

"Hey guys, what took you so long to get back?" She exclaimed happily.

Her mother jumped "Excuse me, who are you and how did you get in here? Anita is she a friend of yours?" She eyed Mari warily.

Anita shook her head "No, I don't know her"

Her father growled "Young lady, Get out of my home now before I call the police"

"Dad?" She said, fear creeping into her voice "Are you guys joking? It's me, Mari, Your daughter"

Her mother was starting to panic "We only have one daughter, who are you? Please get out of our house now"

Mari stared at them, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Get out" Her father roared, and she raced to obey, running from the house in panic.

She screamed as the door slammed after her, and found herself…..Clenching her sheets tightly, drenched in sweat.

She was breathing heavily and had tears streaming down her face "Oh Thank God, it was just a dream"

Checking the clock on her bed side table she realized that she'd slept in, it was almost nine in the morning.

Her mother was going to kill her, she thought, missing the bus again!

She opened her door, yawning slightly, wishing she'd gotten more sleep then she had.

"Mum?" She called sleepily.

He mother appeared from the lounge room, where she was packing some boxes, she peered around the corner and upon seeing Mari she squeaked in surprise.

"Hello? Are you from down the road?" She said curiously.

"No, Mum it's me" She said, growing very nervous with the sense of déjà vu.

Her mother frowned "Sorry?"

Mari knew where this was going and decided to turn around and go back to her room.

"Uh, never mind" She mumbled hurrying over to her room and opening the door, locking herself in.

She pinched herself. It hurt. "Ow" She muttered rubbing her arm.

"Ok, what the hell is happening?" She questioned, fear rising in her stomach.

"First things first" She said aloud, "Get dressed, everything's fine. Just a harmless prank that's all."

She changed quickly, brushing her hair and making sure she was presentable, and then opened the door to her room again.

This time she saw her father too, he was carrying a large box outside.

"Dad?" She called timidly, afraid of what the answer would be. She'd seen the bad side of her father before and she was his daughter. If he thought she was a complete stranger she didn't know what he'd do.

He spun around and glared at her "What are you doing in our office?" He asked venomously.

"Office? Dad it's my room?"

That was it! She thought, in my dream, my room was an office, but I was just in it and it was still my room. They'd remember if they saw it!

She opened the door "See it's my room!" She said triumphantly.

He glanced into the room and then glared at her, the young girl was pointing at two more boxes, a bare desk and his packed up computer.

"Get out of my house. It's an office, now leave"

Mari stuttered, spinning around and seeing her room exactly the way she left it. What was he seeing?

She was on the verge of tears and decided to leave the house for now, not wanting to be forcefully removed.

Sitting down on the curb she burst into tears. This was so wrong. How could they not know who she was? It was her dream all over again!

She felt so small. Hiccupping and turning around she realized something. Her parents were packing! They were going to move!

She checked her watch, and it still read the same date. No time had skipped.

She was feeling more confused then ever. She decided on sneaking into her room. They apparently couldn't see it and if they weren't going to let her in her own home she might as well take a few things.

She reached for her most loved possessions first, when the door handle spun.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around slowly.

Twenty minutes later she found herself outside, on the streets again, with no home, and threats of calling the police if her parents ever found her on their property again.

She'd cried the entire time she was lectured, and wanted nothing except to throw her arms around her parents and hug them. Except they hated her. Or at least, didn't have an idea of who she was.

She was starting to get a headache again, and this time, it was only getting worse with no sign of letting up.

She rounded the corner, thinking she would sit in the alleyway until it cleared. But she was met with a horrible sight. Two teenage boys were beating another boy, the only difference being the boy being beaten had cat like eyes, golden with a slit of black down the middle.

She gasped when she realized that he must have been a mutant. She wanted to help him, but she was too small, weak, to stop the other boys. She wished she could fight them, hit them for every time they hit the boy.

"Stupid mutant freak. Stay in America where you belong!"

Mari didn't think that was at all necessary, what did being American have to do with the mutants?

She vaguely remembered her sister babbling about the mutant hot spot in Bayville, a town in New York.

She imagined herself as a crime fighting, black leather covered dangerous woman, capable of kicking their asses to hell, and sincerely wished she could stop them.

She decided approaching them at least, getting them distracted so the boy could escape was a good option, except she found when she took a step; the two had already taken off running.

She frowned and the boy in front of her coughed, spitting up blood and what she thought was a tooth.

"Thanks" he muttered and then did a double take. "Hey, what happened to the leather?"

She looked at him oddly.

"You just walked around that corner dressed in…leather…matrix style y'know, and pulled out this gun. Sent em' packing!" He added as an explanation.

She raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled "Maybe just an overactive imagination. Thanks though, got them off my back"

She smiled sadly and then helped him to his feet. "I'm Mari"

"Will"

"Are you, are you a mutant?" She asked curiously, taking a closer look at his eyes.

He looked at his feet "Would it bother you?"

She shook her head rapidly.

"Yeah, yeah I'm a mutant" He mumbled and she couldn't see any reason for him to be ashamed.

"What's wrong with being a mutant?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Because being a mutant is dangerous" He said darkly.

Before she could ask what he meant, he groaned, grabbing his side.

"Are you ok?" She asked worriedly, helping him to sit down.

"Yeah, just a little beat up, that's all"

She nodded sympathetically and sat down next to him "Do you want me to help you home?"

He closed his eyes "No. I don't have one"

She felt tears prick her eyes "Oh. That's ok then, because neither do I"

He looked at her "Are you a mutant?"

"No, but I woke up this morning and my parents didn't have a clue who I was. They yelled and kicked me out. It was so weird, I had a nightmare about them forgetting who I was, and when I woke up I walked into the living room…" She trailed off.

He studied her for a moment, considered something and then thought of the best way to phrase it.

"Maybe you are, I mean, a mutant that is" She opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her "What if you, I don't know, had the ability to make people think things. Maybe you accidentally erased yourself from their memories?"

She thought about this. The first thing coming to her head was the dream she'd had that night, about her family forgetting who she was. It was possible. Maybe her powers had kicked in right then and caused her to do the first thing that was on her mind.

She mentally kicked herself; it made it all seem so simple!

She leapt to her feet, excitement in her voice "Good, then I just have to put them back! How do I do that?"

Will looked back down at his feet, feeling very sorry for the girl, but what could he do? He hardly had control of his own powers, and he didn't even know exactly what her powers were.

"Mari I don't know how to do that. My powers are different"

Her smile dropped "But it's fixable?"

He nodded hesitantly "Maybe…..But I wouldn't know how to do that or how to teach you"

The two remained silent for some time, each contemplating their situations and searching for solutions.

Mari spoke first "Come home with me, I'll try and figure out how to fix it and then I can help you. We have a first aid kit in our garage"

Will nodded slowly "Ok, but we have to hurry, it's getting dark soon and I want to find a good warm place to sleep before the cats take them all"

She didn't even bother to look at him oddly this time, this guy was just way too weird.

They moved slowly, Will being unable to walk fast and Mari helping him the whole way.

When they finally reached Mari's home her heart broke in two. Her family was gone. Her parents car had left and the only sign that they'd ever been there was the moving van that was loading things up.

Will looked to Mari for answers but she had none to give and instead hobbled him up to the step.

The movers didn't notice them, so she shoved her hand into her pocket. Luckily, she had a key in her jeans pocket, and thanked god that she had forgotten to put them in the wash.

The whole house was empty. Wow, she thought, my parents move fast.

The door to her bedroom was open, everything exactly how she left it.

"I guess they couldn't see it….somehow." She said, taking a stab at why everything remained.

"Well, I don't have the first aid kit but I could take a look at those injuries now."

Will nodded and allowed himself to be moved to her bed.

As she lifted his shirt to inspect the bruises she questioned him. It turned out he was sixteen, a year older than her, and had been kicked out of home once his parents had discovered he was a mutant.

He'd been living on the street for four months, as he couldn't figure out how to change back.

"Change back from what?" Mari asked, smoothing the make shift bandage over his bruised side.

"That's my power. I can morph into a cat" He said somewhat proudly.

"Can you show me?" She asked timidly.

He shook his head sadly "I don't know how I do it. It just happens. I was stuck in the form for four months remember! It's a nightmare; so many things want to kill you when you're a cat. Although I did get fed quite a bit from some old people down the streets"

Mari smiled softly at that "Well, I guess, I can erase peoples memories right?"

Will nodded.

Suddenly a thought came to her, the dancing daydream at school the other day!

"Wait a second! I don't think erasing memories is all I can do! Remember the leather outfit?"

"Yeah" Will said with a smirk on his face. She smacked him, scowling at his expression.

"Well, the other day, at school I was day dreaming and when I snapped out of it, everyone was still… as if…they were acting out my day dream. They didn't know they were doing it either"

Will put the pieces together "So you're like…an illusionist"

"A what?"

"An illusionist. You dreamt something, or thought something and everyone saw it, thought it was happening. Like when you came around the corner, let me guess, you were imagining yourself the hero right?"

Mari nodded sheepishly, earning another smirk from Will and another smack.

"Ow stop it…Anyway, you can make people see what you want them to see? And you erased your parent's memories of you; I don't know how that works, but wow"

Mari nearly grinned, but caught herself at the thought of her parents. Not knowing who she was.

She slumped onto her bed, lying beside Will and staring at her ceiling.

"Yeah, well I wish I could magically make all of this back to normal. Where my parents loved me and didn't throw me out of my house…"

She looked over at Will who had an unreadable expression on his face. Immediately she caught her mistake.

"Oh Will, I'm sorry, I know how hard it must be for you..."

"No you don't" Will snapped, before staring into her eyes, seeing the hurt in the hazel depths. "Or maybe you do"

"At least it wasn't your fault they kicked you out, not entirely, it was just because of a difference, something you couldn't change. Mine got rid of me because I completely rearranged their heads"

Will reached for her hand and she took it. "Don't worry. Mutants have to stick together, right? We'll be safer that way."

Mari nodded in agreement and opened her mouth to speak when one of the movers barged into her room. "Hey what are you kids doing in here?"

Will immediately closed his eyes, hoping that the man had not seen.

Mari stood up "This is my room, I was just, ah, picking up some stuff before I met up with my …my parents" She lied quickly.

"We weren't informed about this"

"That's ah…because… Um, they didn't think it concerned you"

He studied her, eyes flickering between her and Will. "Alright." He said suspiciously, leaving them alone in the room.

Will opened his eyes and started to inspect the room, clothes, books, cupboards, everything it seemed, was still in the room.

"Why did your parents leave all this behind?" He asked, lifting a book and reading the title.

Mari sighed, reaching for her bag and dumping out its previous contents "Because they couldn't see it"

She began randomly stuffing objects into her bags, trying to fit all of her memories in at the one time. She started frantically trying to fit everything, not wanting to leave anything behind.

If they can't remember me, then I have to remember them, she thought desperately, reaching for her small box of photos.

They weren't going to fit so she lugged another suitcase and started stuffing, tears had begun rolling down her cheeks and she didn't even notice.

"It won't fit" Will took two steps across to room and grabbed her arms.

"Stop it Mari! Stop" She started struggling but gave up, falling limp and backwards into his arms.

"You can't take it all" He whispered into her ear.

"But I need it" She whispered back.

Will remembered his own family throwing him onto the streets, remembering that they had handled his mutation, not said a word about it. His eyes had been that way since birth, but they hadn't cared. It was the recent mutant attacks that did it.

Suddenly they couldn't bare to look at him, and screamed at him to get out. No clothes, no money, no food to speak of.

He'd felt so alone, so hurt, so desperate to be back with his family.

And now he was watching another girl, another mutant go through the same thing.

"Mari, its ok" She'd stopped sobbing now, and was just staring blankly into space.

"If we're going to make it Mari, you have to think. Take some clothes, not much, but enough, and take money." He emptied her bag once again and started packing it for her.

He lifted another pair of jeans and shoved them in, followed by two plain shirts. She handed him her wallet and he inspected its contents.

Aside from two ten dollar notes there was a bank card. He held it up "How much does this have on it?"

She glanced at him before answering in a monotone voice "Four thousand dollars"

Will's rare eyes widened and he dropped everything he held.

"What?" He questioned a shocked expression still on his face.

"It was for my car. They wanted me to save."

Will bent down and picked the wallet back up, stuffing that in the bag as well. Then he reached behind him and tore the sheet from her bed, folding it as compact as it would go and pushed it in as well.

He opened her wardrobe and searched around; Mari now apparently not quite so frantic got up and helped him find some warm jumpers.

Before long the small bag was packed and Will started to drag her from the room.

"Why can't we just stay here? I have a key we could…."

"You can't. It won't work that way."

Mari deep down, agreed with him on that. But another question came to her head "What about school? I have a formal coming up and I…"

Will stopped her again "Mari, don't you see. You're a mutant; you can't do those things anymore! You aren't part of their world"

Mari blinked at him, and he sighed, lifting the bag and putting it over his shoulders, and started walking at a furious pace down the street and into the alleyways.

Mari stared after him, glanced back once at her house. Memories of the previous night returned to her, eating dinner with her family, them telling her how proud they were of her, that they were going to go on a holiday one of these days.

She shook her head, and ran to catch up with Will.

She had a new life to think of now, and she had to face facts. Her parents didn't know her anymore.

Mutants didn't have families.


	2. Wounded

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**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution.**

* * *

They'd been walking for forever it seemed, at least to Mari. Will seemed unaffected by their hike, and just kept going. 

They didn't talk for the most part, just kept walking, Will not looking anyone they passed in the eye, ignoring the mocking shouts. Mari was outraged. No one should be treated like that, no one.

She gritted her teeth as they walked, reaching forward and grabbing Will's hand, he looked at her curiously and she just squeezed his hand.

"Don't listen to them" She said angrily, glaring at the people on the busy street.

Will smiled weakly and they continued to walk.

After a group of teenage girls from Mari's school passed them, shouting insults loudly, Mari couldn't take it anymore.

If only they could feel the pain that Will was feeling now, the pain that she was feeling, times by ten.

The four girls suddenly fell to their knees sobbing, screaming out in agony.

Mari gasped and looked to Will for answers. "They aren't really hurt, you made them think that they were' He looked up at her, awe written on his face.

She started running, followed by Will.

"I didn't mean to do that" She whispered when they had found a back road, and no people were around to stop and hurt them.

Will gestured for them to stop walking and she obeyed, sitting down on the walk.

She was puffing slightly, and surprisingly, so was Will; she was beginning to think he was invulnerable to tiredness.

"Hold on, I saw a shop around the corner, I'll go get some water" She said, and Will handed her the bag.

When she returned, feeling slightly refreshed after taking some of the water, she couldn't find Will.

She looked around but he was no where to be seen, suddenly something brushed past her leg. She looked down to find a black and white cat rubbing against her leg.

She bent down to pick it up when something hit her. This was Will! She started laughing and scratched the cat behind its ear.

It started purring and she smiled. "So Will, this is your power. Awesome."

She poured some water from the bottle into her hand and held it out for the cat to take a drink.

She sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall. The cold brick made her feel more comfortable for some reason and she allowed her self to drift away into sleep.

When she forced herself a wake she didn't have a clue where she was, at least, until the memories all came piling back in. She resisted the urge to crawl up in a bawl and cry and instead stood to her feet and dusted herself off.

She glanced around, wondering where the Will-Kitten had gotten too.

She heard a bang, followed by a string of curses and her eyes flew to the source of the sound.

Will was trying to get out of a small box, which he had obviously slept in, in his cat form and was now have a difficult time getting back out.

The very human Will managed some how and turned back to his friend.

Mari smiled at him, before passing him the water bottle which he took gratefully. Checking her watch she discovered that they'd been sleeping for a good three hours.

Now I know what homeless people feel like, she thought to herself, Man, as soon as everything is back to normal I'll be so much nicer to them.

Then it hit her like a freight train. What if things never went back to normal, what if she was to live on the streets forever?

Will interrupted her thoughts "Well, I guess it won't be so lonely now. I do, after all, have a friend now" Mari smiled.

They both did.

* * *

They spent seven days in that street, buying food when they needed it, and just talking. They learned a lot about each other, and Mari tried creating mental images whenever she could, but found she had limited to almost no control over it.

It was early one morning when they saw a group of people approaching,

Mari recognized the two boys from the alley earlier that day, but this time, they had friends. Six of them in total and they did not look happy.

Will jumped to his feet; wincing a little at the pain it caused his side. He did heal faster in Cat form but it was still sore.

Mari hid behind him, very afraid of what they'd do to them.

"Mari, can you get rid of them?" Will asked quietly as they approached.

"I don't know how!" She whispered worriedly.

Will set his lips in a thin line, he'd protect the girl if it was the last thing he did.

The first two boys reached for him, punching him soundly in the stomach. He retaliated by kicking the first in the groin, and the second got a hard punch to his jaw.

The others started to close in on him, and he put up a good fight, two were unconscious before they finally managed to get him down. Even unconscious the three guys kept kicking him repeatedly in the stomach.

Mari screamed at them to stop, and when they all turned their attention towards her she knew she should've run.

She turned and bolted, running as fast her legs would carry her, hoping not to get lost.

But they knew the alleys better then her and soon closed in on her as well.

She'd never been so afraid in her life, and whimpered as they backed her against the wall.

She thought frantically of a way out, and saw one of the boys near the back that looked weak, if she kicked him he'd crumble and she could make a break for it.

The boy bent over double and she hadn't even kicked him yet. She was just as shocked as the others.

They all turned to her again "She's a mutant too!" The first one shouted, kicking her feet from under her. She yelped as she hit the hard floor and tried to scramble away.

Another of the boys put his boot down hard on her ankle and she was sure she heard a snap.

She rolled onto her back and tried to claw at their faces as they moved in on her.

One of the boys was stealing her shoes, and she realized that these weren't just normal kids with nothing better to do, looking at them all she noticed how threadbare their clothes were, and that only two had actually shoes.

She forced her attention on getting away, and bit the first person to get to close. He let out a yelp and scrambled away from her, another two taking his place.

She wasn't holding up very well, and when she glanced at a moaning Will she was glad to see he was alive, albeit not in good shape, but alive none the less.

They'd stopped stealing her clothes now and suddenly started kicking her.

She was screaming at them to stop, her arms covering her face to protect it. A hard kick to her stomach knocked all the wind out of her and she started gasping.

Three boys had left, to steal her bag no doubt, and it only left two to her. But that was enough, she couldn't fight them anymore.

They kept kicking her repeatedly and her head swam, she couldn't think straight anymore. One of the boys lifted her up by her shirt and pushed her against the brick wall. Causing her to yelp, he grinned and drew her back smashing her against it again, her head rocked back and hit the wall hard.

Her head was pounding and blackness was overtaking everything.

Just before she lost consciousness she saw figures approaching and she hoped that they weren't more of the boys. They started shouting and that's when she gave into pain and slumped to the ground.


	3. Safety in Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I own all the characters in this chapter, but I do not own X-men Evolution.**

Again another chapter with just original characters, the x-men will show up I promise :) The character Alex, I am aware, is verrry much like Jaime, there's a reason for this:D Please enjoy, and review

* * *

Voices. So many voices, all swimming around her head. 

_'Will she be ok?' _

One of them whispered, and she felt as if she was alone in a small boat at sea, the voices were the wind, whipping around her, so fast that she couldn't tell which way they were coming from.

'_She should be, she's beaten up pretty bad, but nothing fatal'_

The fight, she remembered a fight. What had happened, where was she? Was Will ok. She wanted to wake herself and ask these questions. But her body wasn't obeying.

'_Give her a few hours, she'll wake up soon'_

Wake up soon. Good, she hoped she could trust these voices.

'_Who are you? Get out of my house'_

She didn't like that voice.

_'Mari, please wake up, you need to wake up, you'll be safe here'_

Safe where? Will? Where are we? Why can't I wake up? What's happening?

We can't be safe? Where are we?"

_'Hey, look, she's waking up!'_

This voice was excited, and she felt her own excitement bubbling. Yes, she told the voices in her head, I'm waking up, good bye.

"Ugh….Where am I? What happened?"

She saw Will staring over her, his golden eyes a very welcome sight to the dark that was her mind. She shot up and hugged him, but released him quickly when her ribs cried out in protest to the movement.

Will laughed lightly and easer her back down. "Don't move so fast, you bruised a few ribs, but you'll be ok"

Mari nodded and blinked a few times, just seeing all the faces around her. She then noticed that she wasn't on a street, she was in what appeared to be some sort of warehouse, and all around her there were small cots. Some had people in them, some were just empty.

She turned back to the people around her. Three of them looked different, there was a woman above her, who appeared to be about fifty who had bright green hair, and sparkling green eyes.

Then another who had scales, green and blue scales, like the ones on a fish. She was a woman as well, and reminded Mari of mermaids.

Will followed her gaze around the room and smiled "Mari, this is a safe house for mutants. Like us"

At that four small children bolted up to her, then absorbed into one which surprised her and she jumped.

"What's your power? What's your name? Do you like cards? I like go fish but Allie always beats me. Do you know who Allie is, she's…."

The elderly woman with green hair put a hand on the boys shoulder "Alex, please leave our guest be. She's had a hard day"

The woman's voice was very kind and gentle and she was smiling warmly at Mari. As the boy ran off she chuckled slightly, it sounded like a gentle breeze to Mari, like the leaves swaying in the wind.

"That was Alex, he can create multiple copies of himself, for a short while at least, and he doesn't actually control it quite well at the moment."

Mari smiled at the woman who introduced herself as Glenda.

"Did you start this place?" Mari asked, turning her attention briefly to another woman who was kneeling beside her with some medical equipment.

"No, No, but I decided to help out. The woman who did though, our resident healer, Nichole" She gestured towards the brunette who was applying a crème solution to a cut above Mari's eye.

Nichole had shoulder length brown hair, was about nineteen and was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. It seemed to be the 'uniform' of the place, as everyone she'd seen so far was wearing it.

"Healer?"

Nichole spoke this time "Yeah, that's my gift, I can focus my energy and sometimes heal physical wounds."

"Sometimes?" Mari kept the one word questions up.

Nichole laughed "Sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't work. I still don't know how to use my power properly"

"That's what the crème's for then?" Mari asked, causing Nichole to laugh again "Yes, I did heal your friend here, but my powers sort of shorted out when we got to you"

Mari smiled and thanked her, before Glenda continued with introductions.

"This," She said pointing at the scaled woman "Is Sophie. Sophie controls the water, any water, rain, lakes, the ocean, anything, she's by far the most advanced of us."

Sophie giggled "I was outcast because of my outward mutation, so I spent a lot of time practicing."

Mari liked this woman immediately, her blue hair and crystal colored eyes were screaming fun and she wanted to get to know her better.

"Oh you will"

A man walked up to the circle gathered around her and Glenda smirked "This is Benjamin, our resident telepath."

Before Mari could ask questions Benjamin opened his mouth "I can read peoples minds."

Mari made a small 'o' of surprise and Ben laughed "Don't worry, only if you're projecting loud enough, not strong enough for anything else"

Mari didn't bother to ask what projecting meant; she'd figure it out eventually.

Ben was the same age as Sophie and Nichole, nineteen, and had found the safe house by chance.

They were the eldest and the leaders of the Safe house now, and the rest of the people here were all children.

Among the children they had three budding telepaths, four children able to create energy in different forms, a child who could multiply himself, Alex, whom Mari had met, and his twin sister, Allie who could fly, or hover a few feet off the ground.

There was also a child able to control fire, which to Mari was a very scary thought.

There were two younger children with the same gift as Nicole, except they could heal themselves as well as others.

Glenda's daughter, who at fourteen was quite strong in her gifts, being able to create and control all manner of green life, she had matching green hair, like her mother and the same sparkling green eyes. Her name was Ivy not surprisingly.

Then there was Benjamin's young brother, a boy who had the ability to create force fields around him self. At eight he didn't have quite a lot of control over this, as Mari soon learned, as trying to hug the boy sometimes proved very difficult. He was called Jacques.

Sophie's daughter, which did surprise Mari but she didn't say anything, was only Two and had no powers to speak of. Sophie remained confident that she would get them.

The group took care of each other, the four adults taking care of the children, the older children taking care of the smaller ones.

Each person had a small cot, made up of a thin foam mattress and two thin sheets. Each person was given three meals a day, sufficient water and the younger children were taught to read and write properly.

Mari and Will were each given a cot, and Mari was promised proper introductions to all the others when she was recovered.

She was most curious about what they could help her with, if they could help her with powers. But Glenda sadly told her that she was the only one with that type of power, and that this place didn't so much work on figuring out their powers, just controlling them to an extent, enough so that they weren't dangerous, harm to themselves or others.

After talking with Glenda and the other adults for a long time, they told her to rest, get some sleep and that Nichole would attempt to heal her again in the morning.

They left her to sleep and rounded up the children, saying something about taking them outside.

She lay there staring at the ceiling, and wondering how everything had happened. Her ribs were aching and she wished that it would stop, her headache was back but she was doing her best to ignore it.

She didn't know how long she was lying there for before Will came up to her some pills in his hand and a glass of water.

"Take these; it'll get rid of your headache"

She took them gratefully "How did you know I had a headache?"

Will laughed "Ben said you were projecting it so loudly that he was getting a head ache"

Mari smiled sheepishly "I'll have to work on that"

"He said he'd help us work on mental shields, to stop from projecting so much, with so many little telepaths around you have to be careful" He smiled.

She glanced at her watch. It was late, nine thirty and she gasped.

"Where did they take all the children?"

Will looked up "Oh, Glenda said they were taking them to go get some food. A local restaurant, the owner is a supporter of mutants, and hates seeing so many abandoned children going hungry. He feeds them all after the customers leave. From what I've heard it isn't bad food either"

"We're lucky aren't we" She said softly.

Will studied her face, and then nodded slowly "Yeah, we are."

They fell into comfortable silence, just enjoying each others company.

They were still sitting there quietly when the others returned, the children chattering loudly, and a small boy at the back playing with a a ball of fire.

Glenda frowned at him and he extinguished it quickly.

"I thought I told you to get some rest dear" She scolded playfully, ushering each of the children to their own cots.

"I tried, but I've been sleeping to much these past few days" She said smiling.

Glenda nodded and broke up a fight between Allie and Alex "Alex that's your bed over there, this is Allie's off you go"

The boy grumbled and did as he was told.

Will laughed "I'm going to go and see if Ben needs any help" Mari watched him leave, and nearly leapt out of her skin when Sophie crept up behind her.

"You like him huh" It wasn't a question.

Mari blushed furiously "No, he's just a good friend" She denied quickly.

Sophie clicked her tongue and watched her with a knowing expression on her face. Mari poked out her tongue.

Soon everyone was in their own cots, snoring soundly.

Glenda had gone to sleep last, making sure all of the children were safe and warm, before locking the large warehouse doors and making sure that it was secure.

As soon as she was sure they were all sleeping, Mari snapped open her eyes. She hadn't said anything, but she was afraid. Afraid to sleep.

She'd slept fine when she was on the streets with Will, he often slept during the day, and her during the night, that way one of them could always keep an eye on their bag, and make sure things were ok.

But now she was scared that if she slept she'd dream, and when she dreamed, everyone would wake up and kick her out too.

She had a feeling that until she had some idea of how to control her powers she'd never be able to sleep soundly.

Eventually her mind gave in and she felt herself drifting to sleep, and try as she might, exhaustion won out, putting her to sleep finally.

She didn't dream that night, instead, just slept, allowed her injuries the time to heal themselves.

In the morning Nichole was waiting for her to wake up, staring at her with an eerie intensity.

Upon seeing her Mari yelped "You could've just woken me up"

Nichole shook herself out of her daydream and smiled "Why? You needed the sleep and I didn't want to speed things up. Besides, if this goes wrong, I might make things worse" She said this all cheerily and Mari paled drastically.

"Don't worry!" she laughed "Nothing like that has ever happened before. It either works or nothing happens"

Before Mari could protest she rested her hands on the worst injuries and closed her eyes.

Mari felt an odd sensation, and she heard a snap, she assumed that was her ankle bones returning to place and growing together, and then when Nichole opened her eyes, Mari didn't feel any pain anymore.

She grinned and rose to her feet. "Thank you!" She said hugging Nichole fiercely, glad to be able to walk and move.

"You still need rest remember. I healed your body not your mind, it still needs to get over being attacked"

Mari rolled her eyes "Fine, I'll sleep, but I need to change out of these clothes"

Nichole snorted "Lucky for you we managed to salvage your bag from those idiots" She tossed it at her and gestured towards a makeshift room, three curtains held up by an unstable wooden frame.

"That's the bathroom, there's a shower there, I suggest you take one. Your beginning to attract the animals"

Mari did as she was told, and once she was showered (To her surprise, only cold water) and dressed she reappeared beside Sophie and Nichole who were playing Go Fish with Alex.

The boy wasn't as bad as he let on; he was kicking both of their asses badly.

Sophie groaned when he won, and watched the happy child dance around the room in Victory.

He sped off to find his sister before she could demand a rematch.

Sophie sighed, and then saw Mari approaching "Oh, Hey, come and sit down"

The three launched into a long talk about anything and everything, inviting Glenda's daughter Ivy over. The teen was very happy to be included, despite being only a year younger then Mari, was often left with the other children, most of them being 11 it wasn't really her idea of….fun.

Ben and Will stood at a distance watching them with matching expressions of horror.

"They're up to something"

"But what?" Ben agreed.

"I don't know, read their minds?"

Ben looked at him like he was crazy "Buddy, there's just some stuff you don't ever want to know"

* * *

Glenda surprised them all a few days later with an announcement

Sophie, Nichole, Ben, Will, Ivy and Mari were all sitting outside in the sun, enjoying the quite time without the children.

Mari had soon learned that she wouldn't have a lot of time on her hands, the children almost constantly needed attention, if it wasn't a poor child's powers going haywire at one point, it was the fights, hair pulling, name calling and regular energy attacks were not uncommon.

Mari was constantly on her toes, keeping Alex from multiplying himself too many times was a hazard, because each of his multiples loved to torture the girls.

So when Glenda had told them all to take a break they'd gone running from the room and into the calm, cool, quiet.

They didn't make many attempts at conversation, Ben and Mari working on ridding themselves of headaches, and the others just enjoying silence.

Glenda worked out and cleared her throat, causing all of them to look up.

"I have an idea"

Everyone's attention now caught, they listened intently.

"Most of you, I know, have trouble with your own powers, controlling them especially. So, I think perhaps, we should focus on mastering them, make them work, Sophie you can help them with this, I'm sure."

Sophie nodded.

"So tonight, when the children are asleep, I suggest that we should all pair up and work on gaining some level of control. It will take time, but I know that if we can learn too, then we can better teach the children."

She smiled and then left the group to think.

Ben was the first to speak "I think it's a good idea."

The others agreed each offering their opinions.

"If I could control my powers then I'd be a whole lot more use to the group. I couldn't even fix Mike's skinned knee the other day"

"If I could create things like my mum does, man, that would be awesome!" Ivy put in, punctuating her sentence by making a small flower sprout from the ground.

Mari smiled "If I could control my power…. I could fix my parents memories' She said sadly.

Will put his hand on her shoulder "I wouldn't end up as a cat for four months at a time" He laughed.

When Glenda called them all to the yard late that night they were all bubbling with excitement.

Glenda and her daughter Ivy decided to work together, because their powers were the same and Glenda did have a degree of control, Will and Sophie paired up, because they both had physical mutations and Ben and Mari's powers were similar, Nicole took her turn watching the children, and was promised to work on her own gift the next night.

Mari was nervous, she didn't want to mess around with her powers, and Ben was just as nervous, he wouldn't admit it but didn't want his memories suddenly erased.

"Well, how bout I try an illusion? Just for you to see, and we'll see if it works"

Ben nodded, inwardly glad she was going to try something relatively simple.

Mari closed her eyes and started to day dream, figuring that was the best way to go about it. She imagined Ben in a jungle, a sharp sword for cutting down the branches that fell in his way.

She created the small realm in her mind, and then opened her eyes.

She saw Ben, his eyes vacant, and his shoulders slumped forward.

She waited. He should snap out of it soon. Nothing happened, he started jerking and opened his mouth in a silent scream.


	4. Secrets

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**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution. I do own all the characters mentioned in this chapter. :) **

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"Glenda!" She shouted, afraid of what she'd done.

Ben's eyes burst open suddenly "Wow, that, that was so real!" he shouted, blinking a few times.

Mari was nearly hyperventilating, and leant against the wall for support.

"It was so amazing, I could feel and smell and see everything, until the bloody tiger showed up, and then it wasn't so amazing. Lucky for me you snapped me out of the dream hey"

Mari wasn't laughing and instead she just nodded and managed a weak smile.

"Let's work on your power instead" She suggested.

After concentrating he managed to levitate a few rocks, and then moved onto spinning them around in circles.

Mari relaxed, but knew she would have to work on her gift sooner or later, she had to be able to stop the illusions when she wanted, not just at any time the illusion wanted to stop.

She didn't know what would happen if someone were 'killed' in the illusions and she didn't want to find out.

After a few hours of practice they all sat around in a circle, Will, curled up at Mari's feet, still in his cat form, having discovered that he couldn't morph back.

Ben, reading the cats mind laughed "He says whoops"

"You know what we need," Nichole said with a grin "We need names"

Ben snorted and Sophie looked plain confused "We have names"

"No, I mean, like, Codenames or something. Like in movies"

Mari laughed "You're crazy Nichole"

Ivy for one agreed with the idea "No way, it's an awesome idea, I dibs Poison Ivy"

Glenda laughed "My dear, I believe I should never have let you watch batman"

Ivy poked her tongue out at her mother. Mari giggled "Poison Ivy, I like it"

Ivy grinned and turned to Will "What is it Mari calls you, Will-Kitten?"

The cat made a mew of protest before morphing back, Will found himself on Mari's lap.

"Meow" He said, everyone laughed and Mari blushed crimson.

He moved and sat beside her instead "Ok, so not Will-Kitten, how bout Cat-boy or,"

Sophie spoke up "How about Morph?"

No one found anything wrong with this name, so they moved on.

"What about me?" Sophie questioned, Mari having already thought a name for her grinned "I know, Sprite"

Sophie burst out laughing, but heartily agreed to it.

Glenda was dubbed Willow, Ben given the name Tobias, simply because he liked the name, and Nichole, who'd joined them sometime after midnight was named 'Miracle'

"I don't know isn't it a little, egotistical?" She protested, but no one agreed with her, so sighing she'd given in.

Mari was the last to be named, and it was all too easy, Will smiled when they'd gotten to her and offered "Illusion"

They'd all gone to sleep smiles on their faces.

* * *

It took four weeks for Will to morph into a cat and back again successfully, but now that he could, he wasted no time in using it to his advantage. He grew a close bond with Ben and Jacques, Ben's younger brother.

He was wary of morphing around young Jacques though, the boy had a habit of picking the cat up and then creating a force field, leaving Will stuck that way for as long Jacques could keep the force field going.

Mari had the most trouble with her power, having tried many times but was still unsuccessful in stopping most of her illusions. Of course, once or twice she had been able to, but it was hard and took a lot of concentration.

She didn't care though, as much as she missed her parents and her sister, she couldn't really do much about it, and the Mutant Safe house, all the people in it were just like her family, and they cared for her.

They didn't doubt that she would some day be able to control her powers, and she really needed them to believe in her.

Ivy was the fastest learner, and could create just about anything now, and she got great pleasure in making gardens for the children to play in.

Ben's own power was hard to control, but he worked at it, hard too, he made it a goal to be strong enough to help the younger telepaths, they needed someone to guide them.

They'd gotten their powers early and the more they knew the better they could control. Ben made a pact to be their teacher.

Nichole took longer to perfect her powers and she was constantly working on them, but she was able to call on small sources now whenever needed.

Sophie had always had relative control of her powers and so helped the others whenever she could, and took special interest in the boy who created flames, he was dangerous with his powers and seeing as they both controlled an element she had some idea of how to help him. It wasn't an unusual sight to see them both meditating.

The children were the sweetest thing Mari had ever met; each and every one of them had been hurt in some way or another. Most were kicked from their homes at the first sign of their powers.

The safe house had to stay secret of course, select few like the restaurant owner and a few Salvation Army stores the only ones to know of its existence.

It was hard sometimes. Mari was now in control enough to go out in daylight, being one of the only 'adults' to look normal enough for a trip to the store.

Being one of the 'adults' had a lot of good points, she wasn't told what to do, she could stay up as late as she wanted, as long as she did sleep, and she had relative control over the younger ones.

It made her feel important to have so many children looking up to her, but then again, the responsibilities were sometimes overwhelming. She had to protect them with whatever she had, and she knew that the safe house wouldn't remain secret forever.

They'd been very careful as to not be noticed, and managed to get away with taking the children to the park a few times, but it was hard.

And when their secret came out she knew they'd have a lot to deal with, and that the kids would need a lot of protecting.

But as one of the leaders she had to help make decisions, which had never been her strong point. Now she had to make sure the kids were getting fed, getting sleep, being clean, their clothes weren't too dirty, and their powers weren't too much for them to handle.

It was a responsibility shared with them all, but the others grew stressed and needed someone there for them as well. The same as they were there for her. She never realized how much her parents actually had to do for her and her sister.

If she ever did manage to recreate their memories, she'd never complain about anything again.

It was Tuesday, almost two months after herself and Will had been found and taken to the Safe house, when Glenda asked Mari to take some of the money and buy some cough medicine.

Alex and Allie had both caught bad colds, with high fevers, something that Nichole couldn't really fix, considering she had it herself.

Besides, Glenda wanted the children to get it through their system, so that they'd build up some sort of immunity towards colds.

It was out of the question for either Will or Sophie to go, so Ben and Mari were given the job.

It was a simple one at that, walk down three streets to the pharmacist, Ben would buy the medicine seeing as he was the eldest and then they'd bring it back.

Mari figure that was all it would entail when she agreed, but as soon as they were half way down the street she realized that they'd be passing her old school.

She stopped, causing Ben to stop as well "You ok love?"

Mari swallowed "This goes straight past my old high school" She said her voice a little strained.

Ben grimaced "Don't worry Mari, you'll be ok, just walk straight past, nothing will happen."

"If they see me, they'll ask questions. I've been gone without a word and suddenly my parents pack up and leave?" Her voice hitched at the word 'Parents' but she didn't make a fuss of it.

"Just keep walking" he said, trying to reassure her.

The pharmacist, across the road from the eating area in the high school, was packed. Ben told her to wait outside while he squished in and tried to find the right medicine.

Mari watched the students eating and talking, wishing that she could be in there with them, living life the way she normally did.

She felt herself begin to day dream but stopped herself. She had an abnormally large imagination and tended to go off in day dreams frequently, with her gift, it wasn't a good idea. Especially not around all the people.

Ben was certainly taking his time, she groaned to herself when a group of people she knew started walking up to the fence.

She averted her gaze hoping they wouldn't recognize her. Too late.

"Mari?" Mari Thompson?" One of the girls called out.

She pretended she didn't hear but when they started climbing the fence she panicked.

They approached her with small smiles "Mari, it's us!"

She looked up at them "oh, Hi! I didn't hear you, how are you?"

They glanced at each other, not sure what to say next.

The tallest spoke up and Mari remembered her, one of her close friends.

"Why haven't you been at school lately, you're parents like, just moved out of your house?"

Mari nodded, ignoring the stab of pain that that caused, but not offering any more information.

It wasn't a good enough answer and they obviously couldn't let it go.

"Why? What happened?"

Mari opened her mouth to say something when Ben appeared at the entrance to the chemist.

"Mari c'mon we've gotta go!" He started towards her when the chemist called him back; he nodded at Mari and then ducked back inside for a moment.

That just killed it.

They started to bounce up and down "Oh wow, he's hot. Is he your boyfriend? He has to be like twenty! Is that why your parents kicked you out? Wow"

She tried to protest to their assumptions but they saw the teacher and made their escape.

"Talk to you later Mari!" One called over her shoulder, climbing into the school grounds again.

She sighed with relief and watched them being scolded by said teacher with a slight smile on her face.

Ben tapped her shoulder causing her to jump a little.

The girls in the school yard were watching curiously.

"Do you see them?" Ben asked her with a grin on his face.

She laughed "Yeah, old friends, think you're my boyfriend whom I was kicked out of my house for being so desperately in love with and now live in a small romantic cottage where we raise orphans" She said dramatically.

Ben started laughing and couldn't stop; he was nearly crying and bent over double still laughing.

"Ok, you can stop now" She said, attempting to sound irritated but bursting into a fit of giggles instead.

"Well" he said, catching his breath "Can't prove them wrong now can we"

He moved closer to her and kissed her, in true fairy tale fashion too.

The girls on the other side of the fence started squealing with joy and hugging each other.

Ben and Mari linked hands and walked around the corner before breaking into bouts of laughter again.

"I can't believe you!" She said between gasps.

"What, those poor girls needed a little excitement in their lives!"

Mari could only laugh in reply.

"Come on, Glenda won't be able to take much more of a sick Alex, especially if he keeps multiplying himself every time he coughs"

"Sure, can I try something first?"

He raised his fingers to his temples and hovered the medicine bottle in the air alone, after checking to make sure the coast was clear he lifted himself a few feet too.

"Wow" Was all Mari could say.

He grinned as he brought himself back down to the ground.

"I've been working on it for a while. I figure when my mind gets stronger I'll be able to 'fly"

They each kept walking, unaware that someone had seen the display, unaware that someone was following them.

* * *

"Alex, take the medicine. Your sister did, now be a good boy and just take it"

Alex pouted and Sophie sighed.

"It's no use, he won't drink it" She said to a very cheerful Will.

"Oh well, since he's deciding to remain sick I guess I'll eat his desert tonight"

Alex lurched forward snatching the spoon from Sophie and hurriedly spooning it down.

"Ha, look!" He cried gleefully before breaking into a fit of coughs.

"Good kid, Well, I'll remember to bring you back some food ok?" Will followed the gaggle of students out the door, leaving Nichole, Alex and Allie to their own devices.

A few moments later the young fire starter Nicolas entered the room, complaining of a sore stomach. Nichole got herself from bed and tucked him in, easing his pain a little with her power.

She looked up when a loud crash was heard outside. Then there were whispers. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach and whispered to the children.

"Alex and Allie, don't say anything I want you to come over here…Now"

Silently they did what they were told; Nicolas sat up in his bed, his lower lip quivering. "Don't worry, you'll be ok.

The electricity cut.

This time it was Allie who let out a whimper and she tugged on Nichole's skirt.

Nichole searched blindly for a candle and after lighting it set it on the ground around them.

Nicolas's eyes lit up and she gave him a hard look, reminding him that this was not the time.

Another crash, louder this time and a lot closer.

Nichole could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she wished upon all the stars that she had a power that could help her defend the children.

The door burst open and three burly looking men and two snarling women entered the door.

"Mutants. I knew it. Right under our noses" One sneered, pointing at them.

"You'll pay for this mutant" Another growled.

Nichole back up, pushing the children behind her.

The group grinned cruelly as they advanced but their expressions switched to fear and they started backing up.

Nichole couldn't figure out why, until she saw eleven year old Nicolas with two large balls of fire in each hand. The candle that had been lit was not lit and she realized that he'd manipulated it.

"Leave us alone!" He shouted throwing the fire towards them, they started to back farther up, each holding up a pipe or varied weapon, showing no signs of giving up just yet.

Nicole didn't know what to do; only that she had to protect the kids with everything she had.

"What do you want?" She shouted, keeping the fear out of her voice.

"We want you gone"

The others returned right at that moment, and upon seeing was what happening sprung into action. Glenda ordered all the children back outside, hoping that they hadn't seen anything.

Ivy immediately created vines, ordering the greenery to wrap itself around one of the women's neck.

Sophie having perfected a technique she'd been working on drew from the water in her body and watered out the flames that had been threatening to close in on Nichole and the children, slumping to the floor not long after.

Mari raced forward, scrambling to find some water for the young Sprite.

Ben concentrated on some large beams above the intruders lifting them and setting them loose before dropping them.

Mari focused, creating an image; it was an empty room, not a single thing inside.

The intruders looked around, confused and Nicole smiled.

"You're doing it girl" She whispered, handing Alex to Glenda and lifting the other two herself running them outside while the intruders were taken care of.

Will lifted Sophie, who surprisingly, hardly weighed a thing at all, and carted her away.

Ben remained to make sure Mari was ok, and soon enough, the intruders had left, screaming and shouting bloody murder.

Ben cheered and turned to congratulate Mari but found she was not responsive.

Her eyes were blank and she stood there, in a zombie like state for two minutes before collapsing entirely.

"Glenda! Nichole! Help!"

* * *

**Authors Note: I just want to point out that the character Mari, is based after my friend Kate, and therefore technically belongs to her... :D**  



	5. Race

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**Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, I do own all the characters mentioned in this chapter :P**

** Note: I've had a few people ask when the characters are going to get to New York, I had planned to have them there by now, but I think that for a few more chapters they'll remain where they are in Australia. Don't worry though, this fic isn't entirely an OC one and I will be introducing the other characters soon, Next chapter a certain Pyromaniac will be making an apperance. Thank you for all the kind reviews, I really appreciate it**

** Enjoy the chapter:D**

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"Can you help her?" The five of them were crowded around Mari, who'd been set on one of the beds and was currently being inspected by a worried Nichole. 

"I don't know, I don't think it's anything physically wrong with her, and I can't do anything"

Will was getting somewhat frantic "Well, it's emotional then, Ben, go in her mind!"

Ben shook his head "I can't Will, what if she's trapped herself in one of her illusions, if I went in we'd both be trapped."

Glenda put a hand on Will's shoulder "Don't panic, as much as I'm worried for Mari, I'm also worried about the intruders. They know we're mutants. I don't know or care how they know, only that they'll tell others. The children aren't safe"

Nichole grimaced "I hate to say it, but she's right. They aren't safe, hell I couldn't even protect myself and three kids. If you guys hadn't shown up when you did…."

"I'm going to call in a favor with a friend. As soon as possible, I'd like for you all to take some combat lessons. We're in a dangerous world, a world that wants us gone, for the most part. We need to be able to take care of ourselves and the younger ones"

Without waiting for another word on the matter Glenda rose and started tucking the students in for bed. It was late and they were all scared.

They'd seen enough to know something was wrong, and that they should be afraid.

Ivy tried to calm them down by creating a small garden full of exotic plants, but it only worked on the younger children.

She returned to the crowd around Mari to check on the progress.

"There's nothing we can do. She's going to have to get herself out of this" Ben said sadly.

Will got to his feet and stormed out of the room.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000 **

It was cold.

She shivered, wishing she had something to warm herself up with.

Mari had guessed that she'd trapped herself in the room, but instead of having full control over what happened, everything stayed the same as it was. She had no control over anything now, it was completely out of her hands.

It was just a simple white room, nothing in it, no chairs, doors or windows.

In fact, it was a lot like when she'd first been brought here, to the safe house anyway.

She could hear voices on the wind, and now she could recognize a few of them, but had no way to answer them.

She'd given up running at the walls a while ago.

She only hoped that the intruders were gone.

They weren't in the room anymore, but that didn't mean anything.

She sighed and prayed that someone who get her out.

She only hoped Ben would figure out she couldn't change anything and someone bring her mind out of the box.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000 **

Ben followed Will into the yard

"Buddy, are you ok?"

Will growled and shook him away.

"No, I'm not. I can't just sit here. She could be trapped in there forever and we can't get her out. You won't even try!"

Ben had been prepared for that "It's too risky mate"

"So? She saved us and now we're going to let her live in there! Who knows what she created to get rid of them."

Ben sighed, he knew there wasn't going to be any reasoning with him.

"Okay"

Ben sat in front of Mari, his hands on either side of her head.

"I don't know if this is going to work" he said hesitantly.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, casting his own mind into hers.

There was a room, it was white and there were no doors, he couldn't get in, and the room was just seemingly floating in a black field.

"Mari!" He called out, but it just seemed to be lost on the wind.

"Ben?" Came a questioning reply, it sent shivers down his spine, and he wasn't even sure he had heard anything, it sounded like the wind.

"Mari, I can't find you!"

"I can't get out Ben, I'm stuck in here, it won't let me change it"

Ben thought, she couldn't control her own mind. Perhaps someone else could.

He focused on one of the walls, willing a door to appear.

Nothing.

"Mari, are you still there?"

"Yes" came the ghostly reply.

"Look, can you concentrate all of your energy and try to bring the walls down?"

Silence.

"I don't know, I can try"

"Good ok, when I say three, one, two …three"

He focused his own attention on bringing the walls down as well. Slowly but surely the walls un-built themselves.

Before he could celebrate though he watched as Mari disappeared down a black whole.

He lurched forward attempting to reach her but it was too late.

She was gone.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Ben stared at the black hole, fear and horror the only things he could feel.

He was afraid to return to his own head, knowing how hard it would be to tell the others that he'd lost her to her own mind.

Reluctantly he opened his eyes to find Mari smiling in his face.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek in thanks.

Too stunned and shocked to do anything he just stared at her.

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed "Man that was scary; I thought I was going to be stuck in there forever. Is everyone ok? All the kids?"

Glenda nodded and clapped her hands "You did well Ben"

Sophie, Ivy and Nichole all remained with Mari, each of them talking rapidly.

Will spotted Ben standing alone near one of the walls and approached him.

"I shouldn't have snapped mate, and I just wanted to, ah, to thank you. Don't know what I would've done if she'd…not come back"

Ben just smiled and watched as Will returned to the group.

He was glad that Mari was ok, but had a horrible feeling about the intruders.

None of them were safe anymore.

Glenda must've picked up on his thoughts, surprisingly; he chuckled to himself, because she was staring at the children with worry covering her features.

"They aren't safe" She said with a grim look.

"To be honest, they never were. It was just a matter of time"

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

'DIE FUCKN MUTIES' had been scrawled in red paint all over the wall of the warehouse; other such sayings covered the entire left side.

Mari and Nichole had spent the entire morning trying to scrub it off.

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" Nichole questioned, throwing her sponge against the building.

"What the hell did we ever do to them?" She shouted.

Mari growled herself, putting all her effort into ridding the wall of the bright red 'N' "Because they're human Nichole, because it's what humans do"

Nichole stared at her "You can't blame all humans for what they did"

Mari just scrubbed harder "Watch me. Humans have never been able to accept anything that's different to them."

Nichole felt worried for her friend, hating humans was not the best way to handle things, but she didn't feel she was the right person to say so.

"Maybe, maybe you should give them another chance? And after all…hey, wait a minute. You're human too!"

Why hadn't she figured that out before, she mused, but she knew why, because unconsciously she'd separated mutants and humans, the same as humans were doing to them.

"No I'm not. I'm nothing like them!" She spat before dunking the sponge back in the bucket and storming back inside the warehouse.

Nichole sighed and decided it would be best to find Will, he was the only able to talk sense into that girl.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

When Nichole entered the warehouse it was in an uproar. Most of the children were crying and Glenda was panicking.

"What happened?" She asked Ben who had his eyes closed.

"Three of the children are missing" He said with a strange edge to his voice.

Nichole gasped and started running around trying to calm down the children.

They wouldn't be calmed and little Alex started shouting "Humans are going to kill us" at the top of his lungs.

"Mari!" Sophie called, searching for illusionist.

Mari popped her head in the door, a hard expression on her face and asked what she wanted.

"Calm the kids down. We can't figure anything out if they're like this"

Mari stepped fully inside the room and closed her eyes, suddenly the children were all swept up in a fantasy world of make believe.

Ivy spun round to face Mari "Hey, why am I here? I need to help search"

Mari smiled "I need your help. Some of the older ones won't be occupied by this for too long. I need you to help keep them calm and tell them we're sorting it out. I need to focus or else I'll get you all stuck in here"

Ivy nodded and wandered over to a group of kids who were still looking scared.

"Hey guys" She said a soothing voice.

**000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

"When did you last see them?" Glenda frantically questioned Nichole.

Nichole couldn't give her any answers and insisted that they go to the police.

Glenda agreed and Nichole bolted, running straight for the police station, she dodged several cars and ignored the people shouting out insults on the streets.

She walked into the office and asked the lady at the desk if she could help her.

"Why do you think they've been kidnapped? Do you think that perhaps they might of run off or…"

Nichole put her fists down on the table "Because they were small known mutant children and people wanted to hurt them. Can you help me or not"

The woman pursed her lips at this "And I suppose you are a mutant too?"

Nichole bit her lip and nodded, half wanting to strangle the woman.

"Then I am going to have to ask you to leave"

Nichole started to protest but a harsh glare from on the officers sent her packing.

She raced back to the warehouse and reported to Glenda.

They were going to get no justice from the police.

Mari was getting tired, it took a lot of energy to keep up the illusion and she still wasn't strong enough to keep it new and interesting for the exploring children.

She slowly faded away the magical realm and switched into a world full of large soft beds, and soft strains of harp music wafted in and around the children.

Soon most of them were asleep in the dream world and Mari released Ivy from the illusion to put the children each in their own beds.

Once she was sure that they were sleeping she dropped the illusion and sighed, fighting to keep the fatigue from getting to her.

"C'mon, let's go help Glenda"

Will remained behind to watch the children and in his cat form, he perched atop a shelf and watched the entrance.

Ben scanned the area one more time and came up with nothing. The only mutant signatures he was picking up and faintly at that, was Mari and Glenda.

He was ready to give up, but he couldn't. Those kids were counting on him.

Glenda felt so horrible, and kept wishing she'd round the corner and there they were safe and sound, but deep down she knew, that wherever her beloved children were, they were no longer alive.

It was a cruel world and for the other children in her care, and Mari and Will, who were by all means still children themselves, heck even Sophie, Ben and Nichole shouldn't have to go through this.

It wasn't fair on any of them. Nicolas had burnt down his home, accidentally killing his single mother and brother. Alex and Allie were beaten and tossed out by their mother at a very young age.

Nichole had lived a good life, until her powers kicked in and she sped up someone's healing process, causing them to have a heart attack.

Mari had erased her parent's memories of her, and had to deal with knowing that they would still love her and she would still have a home if it wasn't for that fact.

Her own daughter had suffered through nearly strangling herself when her powers kicked in.

Ben had been signed clinically schizophrenic when he was thirteen, due to the 'voices' he heard in his head.

She shook her head, and that wasn't the end of problems for them and she only wished she could protect them.

They searched non stop for a week. Alternate routines, missing posters that were drawn by hand, anything and everything to help find them.

The other children were worried, all of them jumpy and afraid they'd be taken too.

It was taking a lot of energy but Mari forced herself to wake up early before the children and create a safe haven for them.

Sometimes she took Ivy with her, sometimes Sophie, so that the children weren't afraid.

It was strengthening her powers, and it kept them out from under the adult's feet. There was just too much worrying being done in the real world.

Eventually Glenda called of the search; it was a sad day for everyone at the mutant safe house.

Graffiti was showing up on the warehouse walls constantly, giving Nichole, Sophie and Mari plenty of work to do.

None of them could understand how people could treat other people like this.

It was lunch time and all of them were starving, but they knew they couldn't all travel out in a group to the restaurant to ask for food, it would be too stupid, too dangerous.

Will ignored his growling stomach he made his way outside where the three girls were busy scrubbing.

Mari had her hair tied back and her jeans rolled up to the knee.

It was a hot day and he knew that she was tired.

"Mari, take a break" She looked to the other girls and they all nodded, telling her to go sit down for a while.

"Hey Will, long time no talk"

Will smiled and led her over to the shade; her voice was strained, as was everyone else's. Loosing three of the kids had been very hard on all of them and none of them wanted to imagine the fate they'd suffered.

Mari stared at him intently for a second and he could tell she was working some things through.

Suddenly her shoulders hunched forward and tears spilled from her eyes.

"I'm not supposed to be here Will. I should be at home, blissfully unaware. Happy, I should be happy with my family" She sobbed onto his shoulder.

He cupped her chin in his hand and made her look at him.

"Mari, you are supposed to be here. Don't you ever, say that. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have to be strong Mari, the kids need you, and Glenda and the others need you. I need you."

Mari looked a little stung and knew he was a bit harsh but she needed it. They had all gone through the same things, and she wasn't alone.

"Your parents are safe and happy. Be thankful for that. Be thankful that they don't have to worry about your safety every day and drive themselves mad with it. Be thankful that we were found by the safe house"

Mari nodded "I know Will, I know. I just, it's just, I- It's hard. By all means I should be at school, worrying about homework. I'm just a kid Will, I'm not old enough for all of this"

Will shook his head and frowned at her "No you aren't. Because if you were old enough to handle this you would be more concerned about the children being safe, instead of feeling sorry for yourself."

Will rose to his feet and left her to think.

She stared after him, mouth open him.

Ben appeared from the shadows.

"Do you believe that?" She asked, incredulous.

Ben stared hard at her "Yeah I do. He's right. Grow up"

Mari just sat there, completely shocked.

She had half a mind to lock them in a mental room until they apologized but she stayed put and really thought about what they had said instead.

Deep down she knew they were right. She had to grow up.

So sighing, she set back to work on the wall, making a promise to her self to be the best she could for the kids.

Later that evening Glenda made another announcement.

"All of you, children above ten included, will be partaking in some form of self defense. I have a brother who teaches this, and tomorrow night after supper, most of you will be attending such classes"

No one said anything so she continued "The younger ones, if you would be so kind Mari, will be joining us, because I cannot leave anyone home alone, you understand. There is not many of them so it shouldn't be too hard to keep them occupied?"

Mari nodded, she had confidence that she could, if for a short while, leave them alone in the world, and perhaps Glenda would join them.

Her self and Nichole were sent to pick up the food, and after supper Mari snuck of from the group.

She had to find Will somewhere, she hated feeling like a child and she knew she'd been behaving like one.

She found him right where she thought he'd be, perched up on the shelf in his cat form.

Instead of stopping she went outside, knowing that he'd follow her.

He didn't morph back which surprised her, so instead she just motioned for him to come and sit on her lap.

As she stroked his fur she apologized "I'm sorry Will, I shouldn't have said that stuff. I was stupid and childish and you were right ok"

The cat just purred.

"You really are a Will-Kitten aren't you" She laughed.

The cat seemed to dislike being called such and morphed back into himself.

"I resent that" he said pouting.

Mari poked her tongue out at him and pushed him away.

"Well fine then 'Morph" she giggled.

His own laughter joined hers; he moved his elbows and rested his head on her knees.

They stayed like that for a while, just talking like they had on the streets.

Sophie watched them from the door, a smile on her face.

"Sophie, Sophie Alex stole my cards!" Sophie sighed and reluctantly stopped spying on her two friends and turned to Allie who was bouncing up and down.

* * *


	6. Burn to the ground

**Sorry for the long time between updates. I'll hopefully have alot more up now that the holidays are on.**

Disclaimer: I own all the characters that appear in this chapter. Not you. Me. Muahahahahaaha.

* * *

Sophie rolled over in her cot. It was hot, she thought to herself, too hot. She pushed the sheet off of her body, hoping to cool down a little.

She sniffed, something was burning!

She leapt up and saw red hot flames eating away at the warehouse door. Letting out a scream, she successfully alerted the room to the danger.

But it was too late, flames already surrounded the building, smoke billowing in.

Mari and Nichole started gathering the scared children into a group, away from the flames.

"Ben! Ben, where's my mum?" Ivy called, tugging at Alex's arm and dragging him to the others. Sophie glanced around.

"I can't see anything in the –"She coughed "In the smoke"

Ben looked around for a way to get out, but found nothing.

Mari was choking on the thick smoke and she held a crying Allie closer to her chest.

"Ben! What about what you showed me. Could you get some of the kids out that way?" Mari whispered frantically.

Ben chewed his lip "Maybe, I don't know!"

"Try" She urged him, pushing Allie into his arms.

He glanced at the roof, and then turned to Ivy.

"Can you make something to break through the roof?" he asked her quickly.

She hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

A huge tree suddenly sprouted from the floor, growing higher and higher until it smashed through the thin roof, it's branches making the hole even bigger.

Jacques, who'd been practicing, created a force field that stopped the debris from hitting them.

Ben concentrated hard, lifting Jacques, Allie and Alex with him through the hole in the roof.

He soon returned and took Sophie's daughter the youngest by far, and a few other children next.

Ivy and Will were the last to be lifted and Ivy refused to leave without her mother.

Will realized that they were missing four of the kids and frantically started calling for them.

Beams in the room started caving down around them, fire devouring everything in its path.

"Ivy you have to come with me now"

"But my mother…"

"Ivy" His tone was pleading, desperate.

Will morphed so he would be lighter and Ivy allowed herself to be lifted in his arms.

Once they were all safely on the ground below, the roof to their home caved in, flames bursting up and swallowing whatever was left.

All they could do was stand there, each holding one another, fear and pain coursing through them.

Ivy was screaming down curses upon all humanity, screaming out that they all would pay for what they'd done to her.

Nichole tried to calm her down but Mari secretly agreed with her.

Humans just couldn't be trusted.

* * *

The group spent the night huddle against the wall, Will had his arm around Mari's shoulder, Nichole was holding two of the children, Sophie had her daughter close to her chest and everyone else just held onto someone else.

Sophie was sleeping soundly, and Mari doubted that she'd be able to wake her up at all, considering she'd been the one to put the flames out, and it had taken so much out of her. They had limited water supplies and it took a lot of stretching on her part to douse the bigger flames.

The fire department didn't show up. Not that it really surprised any of them.

The children were scared, they'd been scared and unsafe for so long and now it was worse. Now they'd seen their home, and the closest person they had to a mother perish because people couldn't accept differences.

Ben knew that the fire was no accident, that someone had come out that night, planning to kill them all.

It made him sick, but he refused to hate them. That would make him as bad as them. He wasn't going to judge them because they were different.

Ivy stared at the wreckage. She'd lost her mother. It was almost too much to bear. No one should have to suffer through loosing a parent.

The more she thought about the angrier she was. Before the fire, she'd often spoken with Mari about the humans. Oh back then she was more then happy to defend them. Mari who'd never been one to hide the dislike she had towards them and Ivy who was compassionate to all.

She'd always told Mari she was being stupid, that it was just plain stupid to hate someone for being human. In both senses of the word.

But now, she hated all of them. Not just the ones who'd done this. Not just the ones who had killed an innocent woman and four little children, but all of them.

She wished that they would all see how hard it was to be treated this way. Didn't humans learn anything!

She didn't want to go through the wreckage, but the others had agreed that when it cooled down they would have to. Find whatever clothes, money, anything that they could use.

Mari didn't want to look at the wreckage. She'd been so scared and so stupid when she'd first erased her family's memories, and then she'd met and saved Will.

She didn't know what they had together, she loved him, the same as she loved Ben and Nichole, the same as she loved Sophie, Alex and Allie and all the children.

There wasn't many of them left now, Just the five 'adults' and then the twins, Allie and Alex, Nicolas , Danielle Sophie's daughter, Jacques and another telepath, Michaela.

That was it, of the small safe house that had saved Mari's life, the one that had cared for her and offered her a life, was in ruins. Glenda, the mother figure to them all was gone, and so many of the children had suffered painfully for it.

She wanted to hurt things, to break things, make them pay.

She wanted to shout out to the others 'You see, I told you this would happen! I told you humans would do this! You defended them and look what they've done'

But she couldn't.

So she'd sleep, with everyone else. Just close her eyes and pretend it had never happened.

**

* * *

**

Nichole watched Mari's face, the poor girl was having a mental struggle and she wished she could help. Ivy was starring out at the wreckage, broken and bruised. Not for the first time, Nichole wished her power could heal emotional pain, not just physical.

Nichole had founded this Safe House, and with Glenda around it was easy to forget that fact. Easy to forget that she'd forged it from the ground up, found the first orphans and taken them in. But she'd done it then, she'd been the first to take a step.

More then anything she was the leader, she was the one that should be taking control. She was going to do just that, the kids didn't stare at their destroyed home any longer.

They'd be fine; she'd make sure of it.

Glenda mentioned a brother, earlier that day, and he ran a martial arts complex. She'd find him and tell him the news. She didn't know if she'd be able to do that, but it was her duty.

Then she would request that her self, Mari, Ben, Will, Sophie and Ivy could partake in the already planned lessons.

She would call on favors; do anything possible to secure a place for them to stay. But they'd stay together.

Finally, with this resolve she allowed sleep to take her.

* * *

Mari was the last to wake up, and when she did she felt as though she'd been hit but a truck.

The others were in the wreckage, digging, pulling out things of use.

All of them except Ivy, Ivy was sitting in a tree.

Just sitting, not moving, and not talking.

Mari groaned and stretched, trying to keep her body from completely shutting down on her.

"Ivy?" She called timidly, brushing her hair behind her ears, and approaching the tree carefully.

Ivy didn't look up, in fact, she didn't even respond at all.

Mari climbed up the thick branches and sat beside her, swinging her legs under so that she wouldn't fall.

She didn't say anything and instead just hugged the teen, who in turn collapsed in her arms and cried.

Mari remained quiet, knowing there was hardly any words she could offer, nothing that would help take the pain away.

"What's going to happen to us now?" She whispered, her voice muffled as she had her face buried on Mari's shoulder.

"I don't know. We'll be ok. We've got the others. We'll be fine"

But the words fell flat and neither of them was sure about anything any more.

Sophie stepped over a large plank carefully, bouncing Danielle on her hip.

"Anything salvageable?"

Ben shook his head sadly "Nothing, not a single thing"

"We should go; it can't be good to have all the kids here."

Nichole wandered over to where they were both standing, soot marked on her face.

"Ben?"

He forced his eyes away from the ash and looked at her.

"Get the kids ready, Keep them together. It's going to be a long day"


End file.
